Ivan Reitman Attached to Direct Football Comedy DRAFT DAY

Paramount Pictures has acquired a comedy spec script called Draft Day with Ivan Reitman attached to direct. Per Deadline, the script by Rajiv Joseph and Scott Rothman “revolves around the general manager of the Buffalo Bills as he spends the day of the National Football League draft frantically trying to get the number one pick for his struggling team.” I’m not exactly sure how this plot is sustained for a feature-length film (it sounds more like a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode), but Paramount must see some promise. Joseph is a Pulitzer finalist and currently writes for the Showtime series Nurse Jackie, while Rothman recently sold the script Frat Boy to Warner Bros. for David Dobkin to produce.

Reitman’s resume is hit and miss, with stellar stuff like Ghostbusters and Stripes early in his career while his recent output includes My Super Ex-Girlfriend and No Strings Attached. Reitman was recently circling journalist Alan Paul’s memoir Big in China as a possible directing vehicle, but we haven’t heard anything about that film in quite some time. With five years between Ex-Girlfriend and No Strings Attached, who knows when/if Draft Day will come to fruition.